Sales of Chrysler's updated 2013 Ram 1500 light-duty, full-size pickup were up 54% in April compared with a year ago. / Chrysler

Ford reported an April sales increase of 18%, while General Motors and Chrysler each enjoyed 11% gains, bolstered by a strong stock market, rising home prices and many consumers' need to replace old vehicles.

But cars sold well for Ford, up 21%, led by the Fusion. Truck and sport-utility vehicle sales were both up 16% as the momentum continues for F-Series and Escape. The automaker had total sales of 212,584.

GM reported a 34% increase for Cadillac, 11% for Buick, 11% for Chevrolet and 7% for GMC.

Toyota reported its sales slipped 1% from a year earlier. Honda sales grew 7% and Nissan was up 23%.

"Car-buying conditions are strong and will continue to release pent-up demand," said Kurt McNeil, GM's head of U.S. sales operations, in a statement. "We're very optimistic, because GM's market share is growing, the economy continues to move forward, and important car and truck launches are just getting underway."

The industry overall expects that last month was the strongest April since 2007.

For Chrysler, Ram trucks led the way with a 49% jump, and that helped the automaker report its 37th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.

Sales increased 49% for Ram, 18% for Dodge, 2% for Jeep and 1% for Fiat, while sales fell 13% for Chrysler.

"Our sales last month were solid across the board with seven Chrysler Group vehicles recording their best April sales ever," said Reid Bigland, Chrysler's head of U.S. sales and CEO of Ram.

Volkswagen, by contrast, saw sales fall 10% to 33,644 units. The company reported a 16% decrease in sales of its most popular model, the Jetta compact sedan, and a 10% decrease in sales of its second-most popular vehicle, the Passat midsize sedan.

"While it was a challenging month, particularly in the compact and midsize sedan segments, we remain solidly focused on our long-term growth strategy," said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, in a statement.

Ford's Lincoln brand showed modest momentum with a 21% increase, driven by sales of the new MKZ that more than doubled (up 115%) as adequate quantities finally got to dealers after earlier production problems.

Pickups are hot

Sales of Ford's F-series pickups, the most popular vehicle in the U.S., rose 24% to 59,030 units.

Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado rose 28% to 39,395 units as the automaker prepares to introduce the redesigned 2014 version of the pickup truck and its sister, the GMC Sierra, later this month.

Inventory of GM's full-size pickups, which is used as a gauge for the health of GM truck sales, fell from 117-day supply at the end of March to 103 at the end of April. The company is currently selling the rest of its 2013 pickups.

The Chevy Equinox continued its streak of solid sales, rising 15% to 20,965.

April marked the first month of sales for the redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Impala. The company is still producing the previous version for fleet buyers and calling it Impala Limited. Impala sales fell 27% to 10,943 as GM converted its plants to the new model.

Honda's sales of 130,999 for the month included a record April for the CR-V while the Pilot and Civic also did well. Accord sales fell 5%. The Honda brand was up 6.6% and Acura was up 14% for the month.

At Nissan, the mainstream Nissan brand was up 24% and the Infiniti luxury brand was up 10% for total sales of 87,847. Leading the charge were increased sales of the Altima and Sentra and record April tallies for the Pathfinder and Rogue utility vehicles. The Titan full-size pickup was down 34%.

Hyundai said it sold 63,315 cars and crossovers in April, or 2% more than the same month last year. The company said it was the most cars it has has ever sold in April.

Hyundai affiliate Kia also said it had its best April on record as it sold 47,556 cars and crossovers, even though it only sold six more vehicles than last April.Automotive forecasting firms are predicting that industry sales will increase by about 10% as total sales surpass 1.3 million new cars and trucks. That would translate into a seasonally adjusted pace of about 15.2 million for the year.

"We're forecasting the best April car sales since 2007, and that's consistent with the strong growth we've seen in the last several months," Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst for Edmunds.com said. "Sales are almost back to pre-recession levels, so as long as automakers keep reporting their best sales in at least five years, we'll continue to be in good shape."

In April, consumer confidence rose to 68.1, up from 61.9 in March, according to the Conference Board's consumer sentiment index.

Also, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended April up 13.3% for the year, the S&P 500 up 12%, and the Nasdaq up 10.2%.

"The irrepressible buying behavior of consumers is driving auto sales growth in 2013, as consumer spending remains remarkably stronger than the economy suggests it should be," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive. "If the current favorable trend in the stock markets and housing continues throughout the year, the automotive market may be poised for a breakthrough performance."